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Edward Steichen

The equation of black and white should normally equal good and evil but when we are talking about cows we would not really expect them to be bad cows but could have not very nice bloodlines to them and be naughty cows rather than evil. And their marking would be symptomatic of their nature or breeding. In England these cows are called Jersey cows and are especially bred for milk and cheese. In Switzerland they would mainly be brown in colour, of a lighter nature and the cowbells would make them more sociable, whereas the Shetland cattle would be brought up on a stony hill to make them more active. With sheep they are usually happier on the rocks but sometimes like gathering on the plain. You can have different coloured sheep but they are usually one colour, either cream, brown or black, depending which way the crow flies.

Albrecht Durer

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Sandro Botticelli

One would believe that God was something to be found in nature, among the sheep and the cows or at least the buffalo milk. In times gone by, the oxen were taken to a church for a blessing and to bless the farm and any farming. There are still the cowsheds as a reminder of how sacred the cows were to the Italian farm people and one feels they would have brought divine gifts of food for this ascension service by a divine priest. And by the nature of food in this location the earthly produce of surrounding villages is very much a part of the Tuscan tradition. The food is of such high quality, perhaps the locals decided to try the divine gifts left for this blessing and were impressed with what they tasted. The priests may have left the food for the general populace to try, given it would have felt sacrilegious to consume this food for the priests. One cannot imagine the cheese made from the buffalo milk would have been left behind probably because it would not have lasted for very long or have been very palatable on its own, so perhaps they just left bread.

Paolo Lombardi, Siena

Rogier van der Weyden

Sandro Botticelli

Sandro Botticelli

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Albrecht Durer, Skull, 1521

Albrecht Durer

This is something he pursued until his death at a young age. You feel that Christ was ever present in his work and the ascension message was addressed early on with his relief sculptures. He also made sculpture for bronze relief work and would have cast these somewhere locally. Donatello would have found another casting agent as his work looks far different. The work from both these sculptors appears to have gone through a different process of transition from the clay modelling to bronze. One was highly defined in clay then smoothed off and the other was of another variety of finish.

Being a sculptor is a beautiful vocation and few seem to realize what is involved. The experience of nature is one experienced differently by all those who encounter her it seems, not unlike the experience of God. The isolation of remote places fuels the imagination into the direction of the stars. Some people are influenced by mathematical star patterns in nature reflected in everything from plant life to rock formations others feel Gods divine love in the patterns of the waves, the currents, the wind and the clouds in the sky. You feel the life of a European sculptor is far different from their Antipodean counterparts. One can only imagine the feeling of nature to a Renaissance man and how his interpretation of nature would have affected his imagination. The feeling of European work from this time feels like the intellect and association to God was of a far deeper mathematical equation and housed internally or possibly even indoors. Unlike today where we have access to a large variety of media from art books, magazines and museums or travel both in the mind and physically, one wonders how much influence was gained by the current thinking of the day and their contemporaries but the feeling is one of a far higher ascension to God. The stars of the heavens above would have appeared far different to a Renaissance thinker. They would have been visible at night time to begin with because of the lack of city lights and would have appeared magical and of a divine order because of their brightness. In the northern hemisphere the star patterns would be of a different nature to those in another location. In the southern hemisphere there are many different solar systems on display because of the lack of cities and also the position of the stars or earth in relation to the sun. So, sitting in the evening on a veranda would have been a delight especially around the lakes district, probably because of the reflection on the water. And around Florence you would probably have to live outside the city to get a good view.

A. Villani e Figli, Guido Reni, S. Francesco in estasi, 

Napoli - Museo dei Gerolamini

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Louise Bourgeois

Settignano was also akin to something like a butterfly unfolding his wings after breaking free of his chrysalis. We feel that he still had damp wings needing to dry out so he could fly like an angel to God. Like newly formed butterflies his sculptures appear to reveal themselves in stone and the stone is of such a high quality that the fine work he did with them could sustain the work. This must have been quite common with using such a high grade of stone such as Carrara marble would have been including Canova's sculptures that appear to be affected by light unless highly polished. Other sculptors have used this medium such as Louise Bourgeois and Henry Moore. This is a stone that is local to the surrounds of the Tuscan plains and is a really beautiful product. 

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Albrecht Durer, The Knight Death and the Devil, c. 1513

Settignano was on an ascension to God through the fleece of Saint John. The element that made him a difference from his contemporaries was his sensitivity and his gentle hand with the chisel. He was also far more gentle in approach than his predecessors who seem to have had a different message than Donatello or Settignano. The problem with the level of sensitivity with Settignano was not something expressed in his work other than his equation with Saint John feeling he needed a blessing from Christ or God.

Martin Schongauer, Temptation of Saint Anthony

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Albrecht Durer, Head of a Stag, c. 1503

Hans Holbein the Younger, 

Resting Lamb and Head of a Lamb, c. 1523

The golden fleece is present with Settignano's work. Golden for the thinking of Christ and Saint John and we feel the blessing of Donatello and God with the workshop of Donatello being where Settignano's main work feels like it was accomplished. There were several other students working for him but Settignano feels like the most prodigious. The heart is after all a metaphor for the garden of earthly delights or God. Christ is represented as a stag or deer, too but is also associated with the lamb of God.

Jan van Eyck, St. Barbara, c. 1437

Pisanello, Vision of St. Eustace, c. 1436-1438,

National Gallery, London

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Bernini

Rome feels far more influenced by political struggles and the Roman copies of Greek sculptures tend to predominate the museums. Also there are great church monuments and sculptures by sculptors like Michelangelo and Bernini both of whom had a more architectural understanding and this was part of their occupation as well. Beautiful examples of Bernini sculptures are housed in the Galleria Borghese museum, in the Santa Maria della Vittoria, Cornaro Chapel and San Francisco a Ripa. A great example of Michelangelo sculpture is in San Pietro in Vincoli. The Vatican also have some wonderful offerings such as Laocoon in the Museo Pio-Clementino. Other sculptures include Santa Cecilia, 1599-1600, by Stefano Maderno but all have a completely different ascension message to God. The design of the sheep fleece of Settignano is of a very well designed style and looks almost like a dress. One feels like he was tending his fleece amongst the hills of Tuscany. And further down there would have been fruit orchards with offerings of peaches and apricots. These trees laden with fruit would have been the source of the inspiration of the embroideries of Squarcione. The inspiration of the paintings of this workshop. And further down we had Bologna and an industry of silk and cloth merchants before there were any libraries. These were later used for research of many of the sciences of the 1600's.

Settignano